Making Your Own Customized Notebook

The summer holidays were about to end and my daughter ‘Aisha’ was spending the rest of her time doing some art and craft after visiting her grandparents. She always tried to reuse the materials she had. One day I observed, she was sitting in her room and doing something with great concentration. Papers, scissor, glue and craft papers were all scattered around her place. But I didn’t want to disturb her, so I came back into the living room.

After sometime, she completed her work and came to me. “Dad, look at this” she said. “Do you know dad, I made my very own homework book all by myself. Isn’t it pretty and colorful?” she asked. “Yes, it’s beautiful and lovely” I replied. She further said, “Dad, why pages in my book are not aligned?” I thought it’s best to show her and explain how these books are actually made. Children’s are always appreciated for their effort & creativeness and they also get motivated when they see how things are really made. So I decided to take her to my school friend Rajesh’s book factory. His co-workers explained the procedure of making notebooks.

Aisha was really happy to see how the books were made. She saw the effort of all workers who were working there. It involved so much of hand work as most of the work was manually done. We all know that small scale business like manufacturing books can be started with a small investment. But the workers earn very less. This is a very small business with more demand as books are required throughout the year. She realized that the real success lies in a lot of hard work, determination and dedication. You have the power to fulfill your dreams. So never give up. Mahatma Gandhi once said – “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

Making Your Own Customized Notebook.

He said, “The process is simple to understand. To make a book, first plain paper sheets are passed through a ruling machine. In this machine multiple tips are side by side, and water-based ink is led into them along threads. These threads are pressed on the plain sheets and the sheets are leveled with a comb. Hence the plain paper is lined with the margins and lines. Then the helpers fold these sheets in three to four turns and then comb is rubbed over it. The process is not yet complete; again the edges of the sheets are pasted with the glue to join the edges. Again comb is rubbed at its edges to level and stick all the paper sheets. These sheets are leveled properly by taping them from the sides on the straight surface. Then these sheets are covered with different covers and are stitched with white thread or stapled with big stapler in the centre. This is how binding is finished. And the book is ready now. Most of the work is done by workers here.”

Extremely enthusiastic about writing, reading, movies and food; though not necessarily in that order! A Feminist by choice and finds comfort in giving 'gyaan' from time to time. Would love constructive feedback on my writing as I am always looking for ways to improve!